My son tripped this past weekend and broke a window on the side of he front door. Awhile ago my wife opened the kitchen door and broke that window against a pot hanging on the wall. I've never replaced glass but it seems pretty cut and dry. Remove trim and glass reinstall glass then trim.

 

Couple of questions. 1) do I need to use anything other than finishing nails for this job?

 

2) I called three places for prices for the tempered glass. Two were locally owned and quoted me at $115 and $97. The third is an Ace Hardware, they quoted me at $35. Why such the wide gap in pricing? Glass is glass no matter where it's bought correct?

It's been awhile since I've replaced any glass, but...in addition to your trim, you'll also likely have some glazing points and some glazing compound to take out. You'll want to put the points back in (you should be able to reuse them, if you don't destroy or lose them after you take them out), and you'll want to put new glazing compound in before you seat the glass. I think they've got stuff now available in a caulk-like tube, to where you don't have to use a putty knife to apply it.

 

You'll still need a putty knife (or a painter's 5 in 1 tool works even better) to help reset the points and scrape/clean the old glaze out.

 

Also, when you take the measurements for the glass, it's usually best to shorten it by 1/8th of an inch, to allow for expansion of the wood. Too tight, and the glass could break on it's own if the wood swells.

 

That's what I remember off the cuff, but your best bet is to probably get @Colonels_Wear_Blue to chime in.

CincySportsFan seems like he definitely has you pointed in the right direction as far as your glazing goes. A few things I'd add:

-Make sure you're thorough in cleaning out any old paint and old glazing compound from the frame and the opening so your glazing compound has a clean surface to adhere to.

-Make sure to use glazier's points to hold the glass in place in the opening - not finish nails or brads. Many people use nails, but that's a great way to risk busting your glass. First, because the act of nailing in the brad is far more risky by it's nature, and second, because the round brads create finer stress points against their rounded edge, whereas the flat glazier's points are far less likely to create those stress points.

-I've never use caulk tube type glazing compound (it

is

out there to buy), so I can't really give much advice on using it, but if you use glazing compound out of a pail, work it with your hands until it softens, and then work it into a thin tube/snake shape in order to sit it down along the window styles for bedding the glass.

-If you're finishing the opening with quarter round or other wood molding, you only use glazing compound to bed the glass, but you can also use the glazing compound and your glazier's tool (5-in-1 tool) to seal in the glass pane instead of molding (

)

 

As for your question about pricing on the glass, I can't tell you for sure what the situation is with the glass you priced, but there are a few variables that can dictate differences in price:

-Thickness of the glass. This is a pretty obvious one.

-Tempered (heat treated) glass versus chemically treated glass. Both are stronger than regular plate glass, and both are

sometimes

called "tempered glass", although heat treated glass is the only true tempered glass. You want heat treated tempered glass for your purpose.

-There are a handful of different processes that various glass manufacturers use to create different rigidity/flexibility qualities in tempered glass, as well as different UV protective qualities, and degrees of heat resistance.

 

As for the variables above, I'd suggest asking your retailers what they can tell you about the glass and be straightforward about what you're looking to find out. Tell your glass shop salesmen that you found significantly cheaper tempered glass at a hardware store and ask him if he has any ideas why their glass might be so much cheaper, and then call the hardware store and explain that all the tempered glass you've priced up elsewhere has cost significantly more than theirs and ask if they have a reason why theirs is so much less expensive.

I can't help you you with installation, but I can help you with pricing. I ran a small chain of Ace Hardware stores for several years (although it was 10 years ago), and I suspect the quote they gave you wasn't for tempered/safety glass. Most Ace's only carry a couple different kinds of glass and I don't remember any ever having the right equipment to cut tempered glass to a custom size. I could be wrong, but I would double check with them to make sure you are actually getting tempered glass from them.

 

By the way, while Ace is a national brand, they are all locally owned as well.

7 1/2" x 16 3/4" cost $25 at local company. Got laminate. I don't want a million pieces when it breaks. Very little trouble with the trim/corner bead. Had a little shaving to do but nothing to pull hair out over. Already excited about how strong this glass is compared to existing. Thanks everyone for all the input

Edited April 21, 201610 yr by Jackie Ed
Not enough info

Glad to hear it went smoothly for you. It's always a good feeling to get a project finished on your own.

Now I have a window on the back door to do. It's much bigger. 38" x 25". I'll attempt that next week.